Recognized for Innovation and Leadership by North Carolina’s Technology Industry Trade Association

The North Carolina Technology Association(NCTA) has named TeleHealth Services as the state’s top communications company winner at the 2016 N.C. Tech Awards ceremony for the statewide technology industry association.

North Carolina, including the N.C. Research Triangle Park, is one of the nation’s premier technology hubs, ranked second in the nation for Information Technology employment growth. Technology companies across North Carolina employ more than 250,000 workers with approximately $75 billion in sales revenues.

TeleHealth Services, the nation’s leading provider of interactive patient engagement and education solutions, develops, sells and supports technology and services to more hospitals across the nation than all industry competitors combined. Hospital televisions, tablets and mobile devices are transformed into valuable tools for clinical engagement.

Educating and involving patients in their own care leads to healing and higher patient satisfaction during the recovery continuum. Interactive patient education during the optimum teachable moments help patients understand and learn about their condition and how to change health behaviors. In fact, research has shown that the use of videos for education increases retention up to 50 percent compared to conventional paper handouts that often are not read or easily understood.

Through TeleHealth’s SmarTigrpatient engagement system, a hospital patient can be prescribed condition-specific education, browse through hospital services, conveniently order their next meal or change environmental factors such as the room temperature and lighting. Entertaining movies and Internet access can be enjoyed, or relaxation content played to ease hospital-induced anxiety or reduce pain levels.

“Hospitals across the nation are embracing the technology solutions that improve healthcare and encourage patients to participate in the healing process,” said Matt Barker, TeleHealth Services’ vice president of marketing. “As hospitals seek more efficient ways of accessing and managing information, they are increasingly relying on technology partners to provide integration points to hospital systems and aid in enhancing patient outcomes. We are proud to be recognized for this award by the N.C. Technology Association.”

Birth of the Patient Engagement and Education Industry

Industry analyst firm Gartner published a report earlier this year that called interactive patient care an adolescent but rapidly evolving market. The report stated that the key to improving the patient experience is to engage patients and treat them like customers who have service and quality expectations that must be met to attract and retain their business.

Richard Bootes, vice president of product development at TeleHealth Services, accepted the award during the ceremony. He led the creation of the Tigr system and is considered a pioneer in the industry. TeleHealth was the first to bring digital technology for patient education into hospitals. “We transformed an industry, jumping from VHS tapes with scheduled viewing times to digital, on-demand services,” Bootes said.

Today, the systems integrate smart TVs, hospital software platforms and mobile applications with a library of informative videos designed to educate patients about their care, including their medications. Through electronic medical record (EMR) automation, condition-specific videos (available in multiple languages) are prescribed and monitored during a patient’s recovery. The systems generate activity reports for staff to review, document and measure compliance and patient comprehension. Earlier this year, TeleHealth launched Tigr@Home to extend patient education throughout the continuum of care beyond the hospital walls.

Recipients of the NCTA Tech Awards were chosen in a review process led by one of the nation’s largest accounting firms, Cherry Bekaert, and an independent selection committee.